Your 2016 Pittsburgh Steelers (Playoff Edition)

[SEA_Pat]

You'd think there'd be precious little fodder for the anti-homer camp on a Patriots site

You would. And you'd be wrong. According to some, we have one of the worst defenses in the NFL for starters. The game day threads are astonishing, complete meltdowns if we go 3 and out or the opposition gets a TD. Happens when many of the fanbase have never experienced a bad season in their NFL lives.

 

[Gumby]

And now for the game itself:

. . .

• NE receivers running wild down the seam. Steelers Depot does terrific analysis, so I’ll just post the link here: Film Room: Seams An Area For New England To Exploit Steelers - Steelers Depot

• . . .

Prediction . . .
So for yuks, and just to say I’ve done it (I don’t think I’ve ever picked Pittsburgh before here?), I’ll go with:

Pittsburgh 27, New England 24.
Good luck on Sunday!
lillloyd

Thanks for the Link and the quality Posts and the luck wishes. Unfortunately the best i can find myself wishing a squeelers Fan this Weekend is no injuries. I hope they have all Bad luck otherwise.

I would be interested to hear your opinion on the ref Situation. Do you believe they will be non-partsan?

 

[SVN]

Pittsburgh Steelers' defense no longer 'old and slow'

 

[ALP]

my logic matches you rlogic

and my gut matches your logic too

 

[lillloyd]

Thanks for the Link and the quality Posts and the luck wishes. Unfortunately the best i can find myself wishing a squeelers Fan this Weekend is no injuries. I hope they have all Bad luck otherwise.

I would be interested to hear your opinion on the ref Situation. Do you believe they will be non-partsan?

I actually believe that the refs always attempt to be 'non-partisan'. Bad calls are much better explained by incompetence (or to put it more charitably, the inability of a handful of refs to make judgement calls with 100% consistency in a fast-moving game) than some sort of Tim Donaghy situation.

Refereeing to me is akin to turnovers, or injuries, or the way a football bounces -- it's part of the game, there's some luck involved, and while it may not be perfectly 'even' within a single game, over the course of a multiple seasons it pretty much evens out.

 

[lillloyd]

Oh I remember him taking off here and there. Don't act like he was always a statue in the pocket. He was never Rodgers or Wilson but when TB had 50 yards more rushing yard this season it's telling. It tells me he ain't running for a first down. And TB will easily run for a 1st or do what it takes. He almost scored a TD in the Cleveland game rushing to the 1.

You can't tell me he wouldn't break the pocket and run if it was there in past years?

? Not sure where this is going... Ben hasn't had 100 yards rushing in a season in years (2010). Their differences throwing the ball (particularly in the red zone!) seem a lot more pertinent.

Gotta say, debating the rushing skills of Brady and Ben is right up there with the topics I'd least expect leading up to this game. We'd need probably need sundials to time a 40 yard dash between them LOL

EDIT: in a 40-yard dash between Ben and Brady...I think Vince Wolfork beats them both by a full second

 

[ViperGTS]

? Not sure where this is going... Ben hasn't had 100 yards rushing in a season in years (2010). Their differences throwing the ball (particularly in the red zone!) seem a lot more pertinent.

Gotta say, debating the rushing skills of Brady and Ben is right up there with the topics I'd least expect leading up to this game. We'd need probably need sundials to time a 40 yard dash between them LOL

EDIT: in a 40-yard dash between Ben and Brady...I think Vince Wolfork beats them both by a full second

Lol. Probably true with your last statement. I dunno. Just seems to me he'd have about the same as Brady. And Brady's yards have been extremely important in several games this year.

 

[patchick]

Ben's just had an off year. I think the injury during the MIA game impacted that game and the weeks following that game (even when he came back for the Ravens game, he was limited to shotgun). But I don't think that's an excuse for the entire year.

IMO the million-dollar question for Pittsburgh moving forward is whether Ben has just had an off year or whether he's showing his age. He wasn't exactly a fitness fanatic early in his career, and a series of minor injuries has kept him out of games in 6 of the last 8 seasons -- there's a cumulative effect of that on the body.

 

[lillloyd]

IMO the million-dollar question for Pittsburgh moving forward is whether Ben has just had an off year or whether he's showing his age. He wasn't exactly a fitness fanatic early in his career, and a series of minor injuries has kept him out of games in 6 of the last 8 seasons -- there's a cumulative effect of that on the body.

I've said this before -I just think he may get nicked more and more every year going forward, and at some point down the line he'll just be too unavailable to really be a viable option. That said, I'm not too worried about the dreaded 'decline' having already started...he's played too well, too recently, for that to be a concern at this point.

Besides that, public opinion seems to jump a little too eagerly on the 'that QB is DONE' bandwagon. Remember when Tom Brady was 'done' at the beginning of the 2014 season? Or how Aaron Rodgers had gone almost a full season between 300 yard games?

Or, how Peyton Manning in 2015 looked horrendous the majority of the year, and then....

Oh wait.

 

[patchick]

Besides that, public opinion seems to jump a little too eagerly on the 'that QB is DONE' bandwagon. Remember when Tom Brady was 'done' at the beginning of the 2014 season? Or how Aaron Rodgers had gone almost a full season between 300 yard games?

Or, how Peyton Manning in 2015 looked horrendous the majority of the year, and then....

Oh wait.

One thing that's often missed in the wall-to-wall Brady coverage is that except for the ACL in 2008, he's never missed a single game to injury in his entire 16-year career as a starting quarterback. Pretty crazy.

I certainly don't think Ben is "done," but as you say, it's a question of reliability at this point. Backup QB seems like a critical position for the Steelers now, and I'm a little surprised that they haven't devoted more resources to the position. What's the fan consensus on Landry Jones at this point?

 

[lillloyd]

One thing that's often missed in the wall-to-wall Brady coverage is that except for the ACL in 2008, he's never missed a single game to injury in his entire 16-year career as a starting quarterback. Pretty crazy.

I certainly don't think Ben is "done," but as you say, it's a question of reliability at this point. Backup QB seems like a critical position for the Steelers now, and I'm a little surprised that they haven't devoted more resources to the position. What's the fan consensus on Landry Jones at this point?

To be fair to Pittsburgh, their backup plan was never supposed to be Landry Jones. They got their vet backup with starter's experience in Bruce Gradkowski, and he could never stay healthy.

I'm tough on Jones but the reality is he's evolved into a decent backup. He did far better than expected in the New England game this year, and actually won a game against a (then quite good!) Arizona team last year. I still think he's a turnover waiting to happen, what can you do? Great backup QBs don't grow on trees. There are only a couple of teams that have backups that they'd truly trust for an extended period.

As for drafting/grooming a replacement, I think we're still a couple of years out from that, at least. I don't think they'd pass on someone they graded really highly, if the opportunity presented itself...but I don't think they're at the point where they're actually going to go out of their way to draft a QB high. The unfortunate reality is that you typically almost have to bottom out (Tom Brady and Russell Wilson aside) to grab a top flight QB in the draft...and even then there are no guarantees.

How about yourself? Are you pretty comfortable with JG inheriting the mantle from Brady? Even though Brady is 5 years older than Ben, I kind of see their remaining timelines as similar (since as you say, Brady has been a fitness fanatic). I'm certainly not looking forward to the desert that may follow Ben's eventual retirement...we went 25 years between Bradshaw and Roethlisberger. Our fanbases have been very fortunate, but we'll likely soon know life on the other side (having a team without a franchise QB).

 

[patchick]

How about yourself? Are you pretty comfortable with JG inheriting the mantle from Brady? Even though Brady is 5 years older than Ben, I kind of see their remaining timelines as similar (since as you say, Brady has been a fitness fanatic).

I don't see Jimmy as Brady's successor, the timeline just doesn't work out. But I was totally comfortable with the team using a 2nd-round pick on him to be a backup. (That was far from a universal opinion -- there were plenty who deemed the pick a pointless waste because "if Brady goes down, the season's over anyway.")

This is a quarterback's league and I think backup QBs tend to be seriously undervalued. Not every injury to a starter is season-ending, and having a strong backup for few games can make the difference between playoffs and no playoffs.

 

[Brewskies]

Terrific discussion should I go to bed early and not watch?

 

[lillloyd]

Just stopping back in to say congrats on the victory.

Thoughts on the game:

Defensively for Pitt, what can you say? New England's coaching staff is the best in the league at putting a laser focus on a team's defensive vulnerabilities. Our secondary couldn't process the route concepts being thrown at them, and our back end inexperience showed. I certainly wish the tackling had been better.

The Bell injury was impactful I'm sure, but mostly just served to underscore the season-long problem with Pittsburgh's offense--namely, their receiving threats outside of Brown don't scare anyone. It's tough to get *too* upset about all the drops and mistakes, since under normal circumstances these guys would still be deep reserves or practice squad guys, not starters in an AFCCG. (This will be a major offseason concern, since the injured/suspended players--Bryant, Wheaton and Green--are all question marks to return IMO.) I actually thought Ben threw the ball really well...but with Bell out and NE predictably bracketing Brown, this becomes a somewhat punchless offense, one that's incapable of matching NE score-for-score.

So basically, disappointing result for the Steelers...but not unexpected, since all of the feared matchup issues were on full display. Realistically, this is probably about as far as this particular group could advance; New England's just a better team.

Good luck in the SB. Should be a very interesting matchup as Atlanta has some bona fide "Greatest Show On Turf" stuff going on. But I'm confident BB&Co, with 2 full weeks of prep, can figure out ways to stop them.

Till next year,

lillloyd

 

[Kontradiction]

Just stopping back in to say congrats on the victory.

Thoughts on the game:

Defensively for Pitt, what can you say? New England's coaching staff is the best in the league at putting a laser focus on a team's defensive vulnerabilities. Our secondary couldn't process the route concepts being thrown at them, and our back end inexperience showed. I certainly wish the tackling had been better.

The Bell injury was impactful I'm sure, but mostly just served to underscore the season-long problem with Pittsburgh's offense--namely, their receiving threats outside of Brown don't scare anyone. It's tough to get *too* upset about all the drops and mistakes, since under normal circumstances these guys would still be deep reserves or practice squad guys, not starters in an AFCCG. (This will be a major offseason concern, since the injured/suspended players--Bryant, Wheaton and Green--are all question marks to return IMO.) I actually thought Ben threw the ball really well...but with Bell out and NE predictably bracketing Brown, this becomes a somewhat punchless offense, one that's incapable of matching NE score-for-score.

So basically, disappointing result for the Steelers...but not unexpected, since all of the feared matchup issues were on full display. Realistically, this is probably about as far as this particular group could advance; New England's just a better team.

Good luck in the SB. Should be a very interesting matchup as Atlanta has some bona fide "Greatest Show On Turf" stuff going on. But I'm confident BB&Co, with 2 full weeks of prep, can figure out ways to stop them.

Till next year,

lillloyd

Very classy post. I wish all Steeler fans were like you. See you next year, bud.

 

[Mike the Brit]

Thanks, lillloyd. Your contributions are one of the very best things about this board. As I reflect, I think you guys were beaten by a fantastic performance from a great, ageless quarterback. No shame in that.

 

[luuked]

Just stopping back in to say congrats on the victory.

Thoughts on the game:

Defensively for Pitt, what can you say? New England's coaching staff is the best in the league at putting a laser focus on a team's defensive vulnerabilities. Our secondary couldn't process the route concepts being thrown at them, and our back end inexperience showed. I certainly wish the tackling had been better.

The Bell injury was impactful I'm sure, but mostly just served to underscore the season-long problem with Pittsburgh's offense--namely, their receiving threats outside of Brown don't scare anyone. It's tough to get *too* upset about all the drops and mistakes, since under normal circumstances these guys would still be deep reserves or practice squad guys, not starters in an AFCCG. (This will be a major offseason concern, since the injured/suspended players--Bryant, Wheaton and Green--are all question marks to return IMO.) I actually thought Ben threw the ball really well...but with Bell out and NE predictably bracketing Brown, this becomes a somewhat punchless offense, one that's incapable of matching NE score-for-score.

So basically, disappointing result for the Steelers...but not unexpected, since all of the feared matchup issues were on full display. Realistically, this is probably about as far as this particular group could advance; New England's just a better team.

Good luck in the SB. Should be a very interesting matchup as Atlanta has some bona fide "Greatest Show On Turf" stuff going on. But I'm confident BB&Co, with 2 full weeks of prep, can figure out ways to stop them.

Till next year,

lillloyd

Not sure you are going to read this in time before next year but I am wondering what your take on Tomlin is.

My view is that he is an above average coach but unless you get a ridiculously stacked team on both sides won't take you to another championship. In a way it's the worst kind of coach that does enough to hang around but never does enough to become truly great.

That being said not sure what alternative there even is..

 

[lillloyd]

Thanks, lillloyd. Your contributions are one of the very best things about this board. As I reflect, I think you guys were beaten by a fantastic performance from a great, ageless quarterback. No shame in that.

No doubt. And potentially the greatest coach in NFL history. Quite a formidable combination to take on, in the playoffs.

 

[lillloyd]

Not sure you are going to read this in time before next year but I am wondering what your take on Tomlin is.

My view is that he is an above average coach but unless you get a ridiculously stacked team on both sides won't take you to another championship. In a way it's the worst kind of coach that does enough to hang around but never does enough to become truly great.

That being said not sure what alternative there even is..

Bingo. My guess is, if you were to list all of the NFL head coaches (who all already have jobs and aren't available for hire, mind you), there wouldn't be many that you'd personally consider good.

It's a credit really to just how phenomenal of a coaching staff that New England has. I think your fanbase (and I say this respectfully) has somewhat lost perspective on how good you guys have it -- BB coaching talents are once-in-a-lifetime, and you can't just go out there and grab one off the street. I personally think Tomlin is a good, not great, coach, and is part of a good coaching staff. They're just not on New England's level...but then no one is.

 

[Kontradiction]

Not sure you are going to read this in time before next year but I am wondering what your take on Tomlin is.

My view is that he is an above average coach but unless you get a ridiculously stacked team on both sides won't take you to another championship. In a way it's the worst kind of coach that does enough to hang around but never does enough to become truly great.

That being said not sure what alternative there even is..

Kidnap Saban's family then back up the Brinks truck to get him to stay.